Grants and research income
The Faculty of Business and Law has a strong track record of winning nationally-competitive grants as well as conducting demand-driven research for government and industry. Here are examples of our successes across these grant categories:
- Category 1: Australian competitive grant R&D income
- Category 2: Other public sector R&D income
- Category 3: Industry and other R&D income
- Category 4: CRC R&D income
(Source: 2018 Higher Education Research Data Collection Specifications)
Category 1: Australian competitive grants
Category 1 consists only of net receipted income received from funding bodies for those research schemes and programs registered on the Australian Competitive Grants Register (ACGR).
Category 1
Associate Professor Steven Rowley, Property discipline
Assoc Prof Rowley’s current AHURI research is based on increasing affordable housing supply: evidence-based principles and strategies for Australian policy and practice. This can be viewed here.
His past AHURI research focused on housing policies, labour force participation and economic growth, examining the question of How might a range of housing policy mechanisms be implemented to support labour force participation and increase economic growth? This work can be viewed here.
Associate Professor Jeremy Galbreath, Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Strategy discipline
The Singapore Visitors to Swan Valley (SV2SV) project is a Wines Australia-funded consortium aimed at increasing visitation of wine tourists from Singapore to the Swan Valley Wine Region. The consortium consists of the Swan Valley & Regional Winemakers Association, City of Swan, Experience Perth (Destination Perth), Wines of Western Australia, Curtin University, and the Swan Valley Tourism Alliance. The overall project is funded for $1.2 million and will be conducted over the next three years (2018 – 2021).
A key aspect of Curtin’s research includes understanding the wine tourism characteristics and behaviours of the Singaporean market, while determining social media influencers based in Singapore and understanding the positive impact that they could have on increasing wine tourist volume from Singapore to the Swan Valley. Curtin researchers on the project are Kristina Georgiou and Jeremy Galbreath, who have extensive experience in the wine industry. This major and high-profile project further expands Curtin’s reach into industry-related research.
Dr Htwe Htwe Thein, International Business Discipline
Dr Thein’s work focuses on global production networks and worker representation in Myanmar. This work is conducted together with Chief Investigators Professor Michele Ford, Dr Michael Gillan, Assistant Professor Dennis Arnold, with the grant being administrated through the University of Sydney.
The project aims to assess the impact of global production networks on worker representation in Myanmar’s garment sector, which is leading the country’s integration into global supply chains at this crucial time in its economic and political development. This project’s findings will be used to theorise how complex interactions between different economic and social actors across geographic scale affect the rights and interests of garment workers, and the quality of their employment. This will provide significant benefits that will make an important contribution to scholarly understandings of the impact of labour agency on global production networks and provide a strong evidence base for decision-making by local and international stakeholders.
Category 2: Other public sector R&D income
Category 2 consists of R&D income received from the Australian public sector that is not eligible for inclusion as Category 1 income.
Category 2
Professor Ian Phau, Marketing discipline
In 2017, a research team from the School of Marketing led by Professor Phau secured a $72,878 Health Promotion Research Priority Driven Research Grant from Healthway to examine and optimise its $6-million sponsorship program. Healthway is a funding body in Western Australia that funds sport, arts, community activities, health promotion projects and research to inspire Western Australians, especially young people, to live healthier lives.
Professor Fran Ackermann, Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Strategy discipline
Professor Ackermann has two projects in this category:
- Project with Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group: Exploring and developing the role and contribution of qualitative operational research approaches in the defence environment
DST Group Joint and Operations Analysis Division (JOAD) Land Capability Analysis Major Science and Technology Capability (LCA MSTC) uses operations research (OR) methods, tools and techniques in order to assess the effectiveness of the Land Force and support decisions on force structures and capabilities. In particular, there is a specific requirement for LCA to understand the strategic and operational context, determine the corresponding organisational needs and requirements, and design and assess options at the whole of force level. Curtin University School of Management’s Professor Fran Ackermann has research expertise in the use of judgement-based OR for designing and analysing options at the strategic/organisational level. As such LCA is partnering with Curtin University School of Management to (1) develop methodologies and build a capability that will enable understanding, analysis and assessment of the whole of the land force and (2) embed, evaluate and refine these approaches within the defence environment.
This research collaboration will span a number of years and comprise a series of funded projects. The first, relating to extending capacity, was undertaken in 2017 ($49,794) with a second, concentrating on modelling concept documents being undertaken in 2018 ($29,530). In addition DSTG has committed to funding a stipend for 3 years for a PhD student.
- Collaborating in Mental Health
This project, funded by North Metropolitan Mental Health Services in Perth, is aimed at assisting in the development of an effective mental health network for Western Australia. The project comprises three activities namely; the production of a best practice paper on mental health network design, a series of collaborative workshops for each of the sub-networks underpinning the mental health network to enable them to develop business plans to meet the goals of the mental health network along with a process to integrate the emergent strategies, and an evaluation of the effectiveness and efficacy of the overarching collaborative process and emergent content. The research project is for $100,000 and will be for 2 years (2017 – 2019).
The research is based on the expertise of Fran Ackermann who has extensive experience in the area of strategy development, negotiation and collaboration.
Category 3: Industry and other R&D income
Category 3 consists of R&D income received from the private sector, philanthropic and international sources that are not eligible as Category 1 or Category 2 R&D income.
Category 3
Dr Billy Sung, Marketing discipline
Dr Sung and Professor Phau led a pilot test of a pride-eliciting advertisement with the RAC. The Royal Automobile Club (RAC) of Western Australia is a motoring club and mutual organisation, offering motoring services and advice, insurance, travel services, finance, driver training and exclusive benefits for their members. It is the largest geographical area of any automotive club in the world.
The Consumer Research Lab from the School of Marketing secured a seeding industry fund (tier 3) from RAC to conduct a pilot test for RAC’s new brand campaign by using innovative biometric measures such as brainwave analysis and facial expression that examine consumers’ emotional response.
Dr Graham Ferguson, Marketing discipline
Dr Ferguson and Dr Luke Butcher from the School of Marketing secured an industry grant of $220,000 over 3 years with Amana Living. The project examines perceived well-being of consumers of aged care and will run for three years (2018-2020). Amana Living is an aged care provider in Western Australia that houses 1500 clients in retirement villages, nursing homes and transition care facilities.
Professor Ian Phau, Marketing discipline
Prof Phau and his research team secured a grant from Bankwest Curtin Economic Centre of $48,978 to develop a fruit quality index to assess quality measures (e.g. size, colour) of fruits. While WA fruits are of premium quality, the FQI serves as a tool for growers and exporters to use as a quality indicator for WA fruits; to market WA fruits to different consumer segments and industries; and to help reduce food wastage and support the WA community and growers. The FQI will be developed and tested in Singapore supermarkets and premium food stores using mobile biometric.
Dr Michael Volgger, Tourism, Hospitality and Events discipline
The Impact of Airbnb on WA’s Tourism Industry
Dr Volgger and his colleagues delivered a Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre funded report on the main characteristics of Airbnb in Western Australia. This publication can be downloaded here and or viewed online here.